Valentine irving smart



V. I. SMART.

TIME LOCK FOR INTERLOCKING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 19. 1917.

1 ,326,298. Patented Dec. 30, 1919.

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STA S VALENTINE IRVING SMART, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

TIME- LOCK FOR INTEBLOUKING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 30, 1919.

Application filed October 19, 1917. Serial No. 197,451.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VALENTINE Invnvo SMART, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of 4:70 Sherbrooke street west, in the city of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvement in Time-Locks for Interlocking Machines, of which the following is the specification. j

The invention relates to improvements in time locks for interlocking machines, as described in the present specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, that form part of the same. j

The invention consists essentially of the novel means employed, whereby the inter locking machine is maintained in a predetermined position for a definite period of time and the lock automatically released.

The objects of the invention are to devise a simple and cheap means for setting and operating the time lock nechanism in an interlocking machine in railroad work,

to insure recision in the period allowed and time lock's'etting means, showing rack bar and connections.

Like numerals of reference mdlcate corresponding parts in each figure.

Referring to the drawings, the casing 1 contains the pendulum 2 swung on the pivot 3, through thelug 4, said pendulum being formed with the circular opening 5, in the upper body portion and inwardly projecting lugs 6, diametrically opposite to one another,

from the edge of said opening, the said pendulum also having the downwardly extending arms 7 supporting at their lower ends the removable weight 8 adapted to be changed at will.

A. pinion shaft 9 is supported from the sides of the casing 1 and extends centrally through the opening 5.

The pinion 10 is ournaled on the shaft 9 behind the pendulum 2 and carries with it rotation the actuating or escapement member 11, which is here shown as a triangular plate, though it may be of any shape that. has projections to engage the lugs 6, during therotation of the pinion 10.

The escapement member 11 is secured by rivet 12 to the pinion and rotates in the same plane that the pendulum swings, while the pinion rotates in aparallel plane clear of the said pendulum in its swing.

The driven pinion 10 rotates the escapement member 11 and as each point of sald escapement member comes into contact w1th a lug 6 from the pendulum 2, the latter is swung on its pivot, which clears the lug of the point, until the next point comes into contact with a lug, when the same action occurs this continuing,so long as the pinion 10 is driven. The weight assists the pinion in the continuous operation of the escapement member.

The gear wheel 13 mounted on the shaft 14, extending between and supported from the walls of'thecasing 1, coacts with the pinion 10 in actuating said pendulum 2, said shaft extending centrally between the lower extensions of said pendulum above the weight.

The gear wheel 13 is loosely mounted on said shaft 14, asalso its accompanying pinion 15, though the latter is rigid with the ratchet wheel 16, all of these gears being behind said pendulum and said gear 13 being mounted on said shaft 14C quite free from said pinion 15, so that they may be independent from one another in regard to rotationin a'counterclockwlse dlrection.

The pawl 17 is pivotally secured to the gear 13 and held by the spring 18 to the ratchet wheel 16, thereby intimately associating said gear 13 and said pinion 15 in rotation in the other direction, than that mentioned hereinbefore, in other words, the

pawl 17 will slip, so long as the ratchet wheel is traveling in a reverse direction, which it may do when carried so by the pinion 15, but immediately the pinion 15 is set in motion in a forward direction, the pawl 17 engages a tooth of the ratchet wheel 16 and forms the means of connecting said gear 13 to the said ratchet wheel 16 and pinion 15. V j

The connection thus made between the pinion 15, the pinion 10 and the escapement member 11, it is now only necessary to drive the pinion 15 in order to operate the time lock mechanism. 1 v

The rack bar 19 15' the weight for openating the time lock and is supported in the slides 20, the central toothed portion 21 en gaging the pinion 15 within said casing 1 and the end portions 22 and 23 engaging the guides 20, the notch or slot 24: being cut in the smooth portion to receive the correspondingly shaped end of the cross lock 25.

The cross lock 25 is a bar similar to those so well known in interlocking machines and it is only adding extraneou matter to describe it herein and it is quite suflicient to say that said bar is slotted in the under side and operated by tappets to it into the various combinations arranged for in the interlock ing machine.

Thetime lock lever 26 is fitted with a latch mechanism 27, the rod 28 of said mechanism having a pin 29 therefrom operating in the rocker guide arm 30, which at one end can ries the universal joint31, said joint 31 being connected to a crank 32 at one end of the shaft 33, while at the other end the crank 34: is adjustably mounted and held to a fixed position by the set screw 35, said crank 3 L being upwardly turned and rounded at its extremity 36, where it engages the lower end 7 of the rack bar 19 for settlng purposes.

The release of the latch 27 from its accompanying quadrant, not shown, will raise the rocker guide arm 30 and this through the universal joint connection will at once rotate the shaft 33 and as the lever 26 is reversed the operation of lifting the weight or rack bar 19 of the time lock will be completed.

The upward movement of the rack bar 19 rotates the pinion 15 in a counterclockwise direction and as the ratchet wheel 16 is rigid with said pinion, the pawl slides idly from tooth to tooth so that the gear 13 remains stationary. When the rack bar begins to descend, it rotates the ratchet wheel in the opposite direction so that the said pawl engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel and forms the connecting piece for driving said gear 13.

In the upper position of the rack bar 19 the cross lock 25, which has been removed from the notch 24:, abuts the smooth surface of said rack bar 19 and must remain inthat position until the rack bar reaches its lowermost position or until the time lock runs down.

Briefly the operation of this invention is as follows 7 The levers for the placing of the switch points and signals are operated as usual, but the time lock lever is also operated, for the combinations in the working out of a system are so arranged that it is impossible to complete the operations without reversing said time lever and further it is so planned that it is also impossible to return the levers to normal without returning the time lock lever to normal.

It will thus be seen that having reversed the time lock lever, the crank 3% by its upward throw sets the weight or rack bar 19 of the time lock, but continues to hold it, until the time lock lever is returned to normal and this may only be done previous to the changing of the switch points and not subsequent to such change.

The consequence of this arrangement is that any intention of the attendant to change his first operation is most effectively set aside for the period of the operation of the time lock, which gives him the opportunity of more mature consideration.

The setting of this lock by means of one of the numerous cross shafts enables the installation of the time lock mechanism to be above ground and within easy reach for repairs or renewals and it also simplifies the construction and insures precision in operation and this is accomplished with no such departure as will make it necessary to change existing machines that are successful, in fact it is readily adaptableto well known machines and only insignificant changes need be made to install it.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention so long as they remain within the scope of the claims for novelty following.

What I claim is 1. In a time lock for interlocking machines, a casing, a pendulum swung in said casing, a plurality of cross-shafts, an escapement member, a pinion operating the latter and suitably journaled in said casing, a gear operating said pinion and suitably jourv naled, a pinion operativelyconnected with said gear, a toothed rack driving said gear through its pinion and having a notch or slot in its smooth portion adapted to receive a cross lock, a latch mechanism and a dog suitably rotated coincidently with the re lease of the latch mechanismand, engaging said rack forsetting purposes.-

2. In a device of the class described, a cross lock bar forming part of an interlocking machine, a crank shaft having a crank at each end, a. rack forming a gravity member having a notch for receiving said cross lock, means for governing the gravity movements of said rack, a pivoted hand operated lever, a latch mechanism attached to saidlever, and a rocker arm operatively connected with said latchmechanism and with one of said cranks. v

Signed at the city of Montreal, Canada, this 30th day of August 1917.

VALENTINE IRVING SMART. 

